Another Adventure
by Lif61
Summary: The Doctor breaks into Clara's flat on a day he wasn't expected, and they have an impromptu date while Clara gets to learn more about him.


**A/N: Haven't written _Doctor Who_ in years, and this has absolutely no focus. I just finished reading _Who-ology_, so I fancied writing about the Doctor being weird.**

* * *

There was a noise coming from Clara's kitchen when she came home from the school. It was evening (she'd stayed late marking papers), and the lights were already on. Fighting down panic that she told herself she should only be feeling when on some adventure with her Doctor that had gone wrong, she grabbed her umbrella from the stand by the door, and made her way forward.

'Hello?' She called. 'Hello! I… I have an umbrella. I'm not afraid to use it.'

She ignored how ridiculous that sounded, and so did the person who'd broken in. There was shuffling, clanking, like bottles in the fridge being moved.

A disgruntled sound met her.

'No, no, definitely not cheese.'

'Doctor!' Clara exclaimed, lowering the umbrella and entering the kitchen once she'd heard his voice.

It was her Doctor alright: purple coat on, bowtie just a bit crooked, fluffy hair having sparkling grains of particles in it as if he'd just left some strange planet in a rush. The oddest bit though was that there was a blindfold tied around his eyes.

He straightened at her entrance, but left the fridge open.

'Ah, Clara! You're back.'

'And what are you doing here?'

'Well, I was trying to find good cheese. I have a degree in cheese-making you know.'

He leaned down again, finding her drawer that had meat and cheese in it, and picked up a triangle of sheep's cheese. The Doctor unwrapped the plastic and took off a bit at the end. As soon as he put it in his mouth, he stuck out his tongue, sputtering, the food falling to the floor.

Clara was too used to his odd behavior to be disgusted.

'Don't eat this. Tastes like it came from a sheep.'

Clara grabbed the cheese from him and slammed it down on the table. 'That's because it did!'

And then she went to the sitting room, going about laying her purse down, taking off her coat, and taking her shoes off as well. It'd been a long day.

'Ah, right.'

He came over, blindfold lifted up, showing one inquisitive green eye.

'Where have you been?'

'Work, Doctor. Some of us have lives, jobs.'

He jumped over the sofa with his long legs, and settled down beside her, fully whipping the blindfold off now. He leaned against her, his weight familiar.

'Pfft. Jobs are for normal people.' He poked her nose, making her giggle. 'You're beyond normal. Extraordinarily exceptional, I might say.'

'So why are you here? It's Friday.'

The Doctor lifted up his wrist, looking at his watch, face contorting in confusion. 'Oh, is it? The old girl told me she was leaving me here on a Wednesday. But you know how dodgy she can get. By the way, she's parked in your bedroom. I wouldn't say she's broken, just a bit grumpy. Got psychic sands from Alatrux stuck in her systems.'

Clara reached up, running a hand through his hair. He leaned into her touch, even as bits of what she now recognized as sand fell from his brown head of fluff.

'Is that what this is?'

'Oh yes, you know. Had to make a quick getaway. The locals wanted to burn me at the stake. Witchcraft, and all that. Very lovely people if you discount the burning torches and the pointy sticks.'

Clara laughed and then settled her legs up into his lap, feeling her falling into her old routine with him though she hadn't expected him that day. Immediately he took to massaging her calves, also feeling comfortable in her presence. She leaned back against the sofa, pillow resting beneath her head.

'Did you do witchcraft?'

'Oh no, just waved my sonic screwdriver around a bit.'

'So are you stuck here?'

'Don't know. I sonicked the helmic regulator and atom accelerator. Had to recalibrate some wires. And sand got stuck in the fluid link, but I cleared it out. Have to replace the fluid link though, I fear, so till then, I'm all yours.'

'And what if I was going to have a friend over?'

'I am your friend!'

'Family?'

'Just say I'm your boyfriend. You wouldn't be lying anyway.'

'I'm not sure you qualify as a boyfriend.'

'Oh, then what am I?'

'A nuisance.'

The Doctor let out an easy laugh, pulling her into his lap, cradling her head as he reached down to kiss her on the mouth.

'A good nuisance?'

'You parked the old cow in my bedroom. You know she doesn't like me.'

'That's because I give you all my attention.'

The Doctor brought his lips to hers again, and Clara sighed, melting into him. Right up against him, she could feel the double-beat of his hearts, the pace slightly quickened.

She pulled back after a long few seconds, and leaned against his shoulder.

'Dinner?' she asked.

'Most certainly.'

Clara smacked his thigh as she got up, telling him, 'Wash up then. Bathroom's down the hall.'

'You sure I couldn't just pop into the TARDIS for a quick change of clothes?'

'Shower.'

'Only if you join me.'

'Not while you have psychic sand on you. And you broke into my flat. That's not charming.'

'Ridiculous. I'm always the most charming person around.'

The Doctor kissed her forehead, and then he was off, Clara rolling her eyes affectionately at his departing form.

She set about changing into something more comfortable while he was in the shower. He was singing, terribly, and Clara couldn't help the smile that alit her face. Once she was in a looser dress of much more comfortable fabric, she went to the kitchen and went through some menus, seeing what takeaway they could get.

Eventually the Doctor joined her in only a towel, another one being used to dry his hair. Clara didn't even look at him, just saw him in her peripherals.

'Put some clothes on.' She held up a menu for him as she looked down at another one. 'How do you feel about Chinese?'

'It's not actual Chinese you know. The fortune cookies were made in Japan to be marketed to outside consumers. If you really want authentic we could just pop into the TARDIS, take a swing by a hotel in the Ming Dynasty. I know a lovely place—'

'The TARDIS is broken.'

'Right.'

The Doctor left, hopefully to go put some clothes on, seeing as Clara wasn't in the mood, or any kind of mood. She just wanted to relax, at least for now.

'Chinese it is then. Order me some bird's nest soup.'

'This is England. They don't have that.'

He poked his head back in. 'Balut?'

'What in the world is that?'

'Duck embryo, they—'

She held up her hand. 'Nope, I've heard enough. They don't have that either.'

'Well, alright. Get me something that's not too terrible, would you?'

* * *

Not too terrible for the doctor ended up being duck wrapped in rice paper and dipped in a sauce.

Clara watched him as he ate, a weird thought coming to mind. He'd been alive for 1200 years. What was he doing here? What had his other relationships been like?

'So you're really old, yeah?'

'Excuse me! I'm quite young in fact,' he stated, putting his food down, and picking up a napkin to wipe his face. '1200 is nothing compared to the age of the universe.'

'Older than me, then.'

'Well you're younger than me, missy, so don't go thinking you can insult my age.'

Clara laughed. 'I wasn't. Just… wondering…'

'Wondering what?'

'Have you ever been married?'

The Doctor leaned back in his chair, letting his napkin flutter back down to the table.

'Loads of times. Too many times. Though I think one of them wasn't in a real chapel. Poor Marilyn, the dear thought she finally had me.'

'Marilyn?'

'Monroe.'

Clara just stared at him with wide eyes. 'You certainly draw attention.'

'Why are you asking?'

Clara shrugged, poking at her rice. 'No reason. Just wondering what I am to you.'

'And you're thinking about marriage?'

'No, not really. Just curious if you've ever done it. Did it change things for you, did you actually settle down?'

'Settling down's boring. Though one of my wives is also a time traveller.' He grabbed his chin in thought, frowning. 'Am I still married to her?'

That question deeply bothered Clara, but she didn't let it show.

'Doesn't matter. I'm with you now.'

'And how long will you be with me?'

'Forever, I hope,' he told her, eyes glistening with admiration and excitement, a small smile alighting his face.

That seemed to end that conversation, and they finished up dinner. Afterwards, the Doctor enlisted Clara to help him with the TARDIS, and he had discovered that the thermocouplings also needed work. His hands were busy holding two couplings together, and his sonic screwdriver was in his mouth. He eventually managed to get the couplings nearly locked into each other, sonicking them, and then said, 'Clara, in my pocket, you should find the astro-rectifier. Small mattery thing with lots of bits.'

Not totally sure what to look for, but wanting to help him anyway, Clara started going through one of his pockets, even as his coat was still on him.

Clara kept finding strange objects, asking him if that was it, and he would say no, so she tossed it aside.

The TARDIS groaned around them, maybe because of something the Doctor was doing, maybe an after effect of the psychic sand, or maybe she really just didn't like Clara going through the Doctor's pockets.

He pat the couplings. 'Calm down, Sexy. It's alright.'

'Wish you would talk to me like that,' she joked. And then, with her arm in his pocket up to her elbow since his pockets were bigger on the inside, her hand clasped around something metallic, shaped like a large ring. There was another one attached to it, it seemed.

Clara pulled the object out, and stared.

'Um, Doctor.'

'Hmm, yes?'

'Why have you got handcuffs?'

His eyes went wide, and he dropped the couplings, sparks flying, lights in the TARDIS flickering and dimming. He grabbed them from her.

'No reason.'

'They're not for…?'

'No.' They stared at each other. 'You don't believe me.'

'I didn't say anything.'

'No, but your face is doing a thing, that thing it does when you think I'm lying to you.'

'This is just my face.'

'And it did the thing,' he pointed out.

Sparks flew again and they both jumped back.

'Oh, bollocks!'

Then he laid the handcuffs aside near the time rotor, which still glowed strongly despite the other parts in the console room not working right. He went through his pockets on his own, eventually pulling out a weird object that Clara would have never guessed in a million years was the astro-rectifier.

He kissed it, and then went back to work. Lights began coming back on as he finished up.

'So the handcuffs,' Clara brought up again as he started putting away tools.

'The handcuffs.'

'What are they for?'

'This is a police box, you know. Might have to arrest someone.'

'You don't arrest people.'

'Fine, I got them as a present from a good friend of mine on the third moon of Sintar.'

'Good friend?' she questioned, raising an eyebrow.

His face flushed red. 'Boyfriend. They come in handy. Only ever really used them once, and not for myself. They have a quantum lock. Can't even be undone with a sonic.'

'Then how do you undo them?'

'ESD, or uh, cut off the appendages locked in and slide 'em on through.'

'Ew!'

'You asked.'

The Doctor was collecting them from where he left them, flipping them in his hands, the metal jangling together.

'Maybe I should get rid of these,' he mused.

Clara sidled close. 'And what is ESD?'

'Entanglement sudden death.'

'Is that hard to manage?'

'Just gotta pop over for a quick trip to the Zero Room, and the decay starts, so not really.'

Clara took the handcuffs from him, not quite sure what she was thinking. But she was surprised he had them, surprised at a lot of the odd things she'd found in his pockets, or things that he liked.

Any day with the Doctor was weird, an adventure. Maybe it was time for another one.

Giving him a cheeky grin, Clara stuck them on her wrists.

His eyes went wide in sudden panic, his brows raising, but then realization seemed to dawn on him.

'You Impossible Girl.'

'You Clever Boy.'

'Do you know how dangerous it is for humans in the Zero Room?'

'Then stick just my hands in after,' she concluded.

He grinned, picking her up, carrying her bridal style. The sudden movement had her cry out in surprise. She reached to hold onto him, but her wrists were pulled close together. Soon she figured out she could loop her arms around his neck.

'Ready for another adventure?'

Clara beamed at him. 'Always.'


End file.
